The Canadian's ordeal
by foxylove51
Summary: 2p Canada and oc love story. Read inside to find out more.
1. Chapter 1

My muscles protested as I scrubbed the floor, desperately trying to get the blood stain out of the living room carpet. With a disappointed sigh I stood and turned to get some other cleaner to try,when I tripped on the coffee table and sent my mother's favorite vase to the floor. Water, glass, and roses flew in all directions, covering the floor and I held my breath, waiting.

"Alex!" My mom screamed as she descended the stairs in her very revealing blue sleeping gown. I hung my head, not daring to look her in the eyes. "What the hell did you do you little fuck up!"

"I'm so sorry!" I apologized quickly as she stormed down the stair to stand in front of me. Her tiny feet were polished the same blue as her expensive night wear. "I was just trying to clean-" She brought her hand back and slapped me hard enough to knock me down. Her well manicured nails left barely there scratches, the kind that cause a dull burn. I squealed as I landed in the glass and sobbed as mom stepped on my, grinding me into the mess. Shards embedded in my skin and as I moved they tore my skin open more. My blood left more stains in the carpet that I'd have to clean up later. I hope I can get that done soon, or it'd be ever harder.

"God, you can't do anything right at all, can ya bitch?" I closed my eyes and sniffed, not waning to hear but if I covered my ears it would only be worse for me later. "Maybe I should tell your father when he gets back, eh? I'm sure he'd love a reason to beat the shit outta you. Not like he needs one, but still."

"No, please!" I cried out in fear, "I'll clean it, I promise!"

"Just like you cleaned he blood from last night? I don't think so." The new injuries and some of my old ones stung as she dragged me toward the basement. She threw me in, and I whimpered as I landed at the bottom, too tired to get up. It'd been so long since I'd had some food, at least a week and I hadn't slept good either. All in all, I was too weak to do much more than drag myself to my shitty bathroom and pull out some old, stained rags to wrap around my cuts. I carefully pulled out all the glass I could reach and wiped the blood away before doing my best to bandage myself. I leaned against the wall, hissing as my wounds were irritated, and slowly slid to the floor.

Tears fell and I just couldn't stop them. Why did I get treated this way? I never asked for much in life, not all that expensive shit like other girls my age, or anything. I didn't need a new car, or an iPhone, or a new wardrobe of expensive clothes. All I wanted was some one who loved me just because I was me. I didn't care who it came from, I just wanted it so bad! Even after all they've done to me, I love my parents, so why can't they love me? Am I really so stupid and ugly that no one can love me?

Later I woke up in the night, which is very odd for me. I always slept until daylight, but when I walked out to see out the one, tiny window in the basement, it was still dark. But what was more surprising, and scary, was that the window was open. I backed away a bit before darting toward the stairs, my internal panic worse when I saw the door kicked in. Some one was in my house, and my parents were in danger. I crept up the stairs, trying to be quiet. At the top I could peak around the corner and see into the living room a bit. My parents were tied to chairs from the kitchen, while a couple guys stood around them.

One had dark reddish-brown hair, wore a leather jacket, jeans and black boots. The other has longer blonde hair tied back in a loose ponytail and he wore a red montes uniform. 'What the hell are they doing here?' I considered sneaking back down the stairs and through the window, but my stupid curiosity had me glued to the spot. I gulped and listened carefully.

"Please, please stop!" My mom was practically bawling at them. Her make up was ruined and running down her cheeks from her tears.

"What fun would that be?" The brunette sneered, stepping closer to my parents. Dad growled at him and received a harsh blow to his right cheek from the blonde. "Speaking of which, you're pretty good looking."

"No!" Dad was hit, this time with a hockey stick by the blonde. For a second I thought his jaw might have been broken, he was hit so hard.

"Wait, wait!" Mother's voice was hoarse from her crying, "I have a daughter, downstairs." My eyes widened at her declaration. How could she!? What kind of mother tries to sacrififice their daughter to save theirself?

I almost squealed as a wet nose pressed against my neck. I slowly turned my head and came face to face with a white wolf. She was absolutely beautiful with fur white as snow and big blue yes. It took a few seconds for me to register that I was staring down a wolf, as in an animal that could rip me to shreds. But even after this realization, I didn't feel scared. In fact her presence was a great comfort to me, as though I was suppose to be with her.

"Aw hell, Matthew!" I jumped. I had completely forgotten about the two men in my house. A deep hopelessness filled me, but before I could be totally engulfed the wolf's soft, wet nose pressed against me, and then moved back right before her long tongue swiped across my cheek. I turned back to her and smiled, reaching a hand to scratch behind her ears. She whined contently and I reached my other hand up to scratch as well. I moved my hands as I rubbed until one hand was buried in her chest fur and the other placed on her back. Suddenly I recalled that I was most certainly not alone, but before I could do anything some one struck me in the back of my head and I blacked out.

**So, since I'm trying to clear out my flashdrive, which is screaming at me from all the started stories on it, I'm already starting my next story. Aren't I just a glutton for punishment? I've got the first few of this done so updates should be somewhat regular, but once they're gone you can forget that. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and as this is my first 2p Hetalia story if the characters seem way OC I'd appreciate gentle corrections.**

**-Jacky**


	2. Chapter 2

I groaned and rolled over on my side, burying my face into the soft pillow. Wait, why would there be a pillow on my stairway? I peaked one eye open and looked at the bed I was in. This was not my room. I snapped away from the , scanning all around myself at the room. It seemed rather plain, but I could see through the open closet door enough to know I was in some guy's room, which only made me more uncomfortable then before. I thought back to the last thing that happened before I passed out, no, before I was knocked out. 'That's right.' I remembered, 'Those two guys were in my house last night and they found me while I was looking at that wolf.'

Something inside me began aching for the white furred creature, and I let a soft whine escape, though I have no idea why. "Aw, so you're finally awake?" I gasped and whirled around to see the brunette from last night standing in the doorway. He had red eyes that stared at me from over a pair of shades in a way that made me squirm internally. Although, I suppose anyone staring at me with red eyes would bother me, it was just so creepy. "Ya know, you're kinda hot."

"Alfred F. Jones!" A shorter, much peppier looking man and up behind the brunette and smacked the back of his head with a rolling pin. "That is no way to talk to a lady! Remeber your manners." He walked closer and stopped at the foot of the bed, holding out one hand. "Hello deary, my name is Oliver. What's your name?"

After a pause I shyly shook his hand, "A-Alex." I swallowed, cursing myself for stuttering, but this guy! The other, Alfred, was obviously bad news, but Oliver gave off a vibe of creepiness. He was dressed in khakis, with a pastel pink button up dress shirt, and a pale purple vest. His hair was a wild mess of strawberry blonde and he had the strangest blue eyes. When he smiled it was too large, showing off too much of his teeth.

"Oh, aren't you just the cutest little thing!" He stretched his hands out, startling me. The guy looked dumbstruck as I jumped away from him, completely off the bed, wide eyed and slightly accelerated breathing. "Oh dear, are you scared of me?"

"Nah, she had majorly shitty parents. You can see the bandages on her upper arm." Alfred put in. I quickly tugged my T-shirt sleeve back down, trying not to look at them.

"Oh, you poor thing! Why don't you come with me to get that rewrapped? I'm sure they must be getting uncomfortable for you." He grabbed my wrist, though thankfully not too hard, and pulled me along behind him, to a bathroom. I was promptly lifted onto the counter and my sleeve pushed up. He carefully took off the dirty wrappings and pulled a first aid kit from under the sink. I stared at the wall as he put antibacterial stuff on the wound and began patching me up. "Good lord, your shoulder is terrible sweetheart! How'd you get this?"

Normally I would never say a word, but something told me that if Oliver asked me something it was in my best interest to answer. "I knocked over mama's favorite vase, so she hit me and shoved me into the glass shards, then ground me into them with her foot."

He paused before returning to work, his hands shaking a little. "Ya know," He stopped everything as a burst of chuckles escaped him. The force of his laughter escalated until he eventually was laughing like the mad man I'm sure he was. The guy even had to hold himself up using the sink.

"A-Alfred!" I yelled, hoping he could, or rather would, help me. It didn't take long for him to appear in the doorway. By now I'd jumped off the sink and got a few feet between myself and Oliver, not wanting to take any chances even if he had treated me kindly so far.

"Oi, what did ya say to him?" Alfred asked, wrapping an arm around Oliver to support him.

"What's happening to him?" I shook as Oliver's fit got a bit louder and pressed myself into the wall opposite of them. My heart pounded in my chest with a fury unlike even before.

"He gets like this when something upsets him." Al's red eyes stared straight at me, more unnerving then when I had first see him, which I had previously believed was impossible. "What did you say?"

"He asked me how I got my injuries, so I answered." I bit my lower lip, a habit I'd developed after mother informed me that fidgeting and avoiding eye contact was disgraceful, via fist in my face.

"How'd you get them?" He pushed.

"M-my parents." I stuttered. I've never been one for attention, and I certainly don't like to put all my problems out there for others to examine. It was my business, not theirs. I swear, if I make it out of here alive I'm moving away from any cities, maybe even out of country to some place like Canada, or Russia.

Alfred broke my concentration shortly after, "Come on Oliver, deep breathes." He patted Oliver's back, trying to get him to calm down. The laughter slot went down and he appeared to be fine.

"Alex," Oliver was struggling with his speech, thanks to his remaining giggles, "ya know, us here, we're killers. But even we...even we d-don't seriously hurt our own. Y-your parents disgust me. Maybe I should take care of them myself." I stared wide eyed at how this serial killer I'd just met could possibly care about me. Didn't they bring me here to kill me?

Alfred scoffed at my confused look. "You ain't too bright are you?" He helped Oliver to sat on the desk chair and then turned to me. "You're part of the family now. He's trying to tell you that we'd never treat you like that, so you don't need to be afraid."

"P-part of he family?" His answer just confused me more! Why did they want me in their family? Obviously I wasn't anything special if my own parents didn't care for me, so how could they when we'd just met?

"Alfred, we have to go talk to the others." Oliver coughed, but seemed to have otherwise recovered. "Alex you can take a nap if you want. I'm sure this entire ordeal has left you exhaled. "

"And you look like shit." Oliver smacked him and they left, closing the door behind them. Seeing as I had nothing better to do, and my adrenaline was gone, so all my sleepless nights were catching up to me, I laid back down to sleep some more. Everything that had happened kept running through my head, but eventually I fell asleep.

**Running on nothing but starbucks here, so forgive my crappy editing. As always, hope you enjoy, compliments and constructive criticism are welcome. Also, special thanks to SlifofinaDragon for being the first person to add this to their favorites, you are a totally awesome person.**

**- Jacky**


	3. Chapter 3

"But why does it have to be HER!?" Canada complained, slumped over on the couch as he watched television with his 'family'. "I wanted a tough little bitch, but instead I get a cowardly, snot nosed brat."

"Now, now Matthew, we don't really know anything about this girl." Oliver chided after pushing Canada's feet off the coffee table, "Besides, you know as well as I how this whole thing works."

"Yeah, in theory, but it's never actually been proven, has it?" Matthew growled. He really didn't feel like having this discussion with his former caretaker, who was being annoying optimistic about the situation.

"Guess you'll just have to be our Guinea pig." Alfred mumbled through a bite of an apple. Matthew threw one of his books from the coffee table at his brother, but Al easily dodged because he had anticipated Matt's reaction.

"Don't talk with your mouth full of food Alfred!" Oliver snapped, frowning at the brunette, then turning to his other 'son'. "It'll be okay. Just give her a chance and if you don't like her after a few months we'll get rid of her. But we are not killing this one, I like her too much."

"Oliver's right, so shut up." France added, lighting a cigarette. Matthew glared at him from over his shades. France may be his 'father', but Canada hated being told what to do and orders made him wants to hit the older country in the face with his hockey stick.

Oliver went back to smiling. "Well, she'll probably be hungry so I'm going to make her something to eat."

"Hey, don't forget not to poison it, ay." Canada reminded him. Oliver's food may taste better then Arthur's but it was just as deadly if Ollie wanted it to be.

"I'd never do that to Alex. She's much too adorable for that!" Oliver happily skipped to the kitchen, followed by a grumbling France.

"At least she's hot man. Could've gotten stuck with an ugly bitch." Alfred wiggled his eyebrows in a typical perverse American gesture. Of course, Matthew was grateful that the girl, Alex, wasn't hideous, but unlike Al he wasn't really interested in super models. He preferred average women, as in what average should be, not the toothpick tiny that seemed the norm, nor too chunky. Unfortunately, this girl was much too thin to be healthy, a sign that she had been starved as well as beaten. In fact he feared he would break bones if he so much as touched her too hard, but she _was_ pretty, and with a few more pounds she'd be close to perfect.

"Yeah." Matthew reached down and pet the wolf that lay at his feet, the one responsible for his current situation. Kumajirou swatted at the Candian's arm with a paw, drawing thin red lines along his arm, displeased with the blond's lack of attention to him in favor of the wolf. "You sure she's the right girl?" The wolf whined, then licked Canada's hand. "Fuck." Canada leaned back and ran a hand through his hair. How was any of this suppose to work out? And according to Oliver, Alex wasn't to be killed, so that was no longer an option If things didn't go as planned.

The wolf whined louder and gestured with her head to the doorway leading upstairs. "Maybe you should let her go upstairs." Alfred suggested. "You know they're automatically attached to one another. Or at least, that's how they are suppose to be."

"Whatever." I grumbled, hauling myself off the couch and walked to the door that separated the stairway from the main floor and opened it. The wolf nearly took me out in its mad dash up the stair case and into my room, where Oliver told her she could stay for now.

"Oh here, take this to her would you?" Oliver asked after he popped into the living room with a tray of food. I took it with a sneer and went up the stairs, quiet enough not to wake some one who was asleep but loud enough that she'd hear me, if she was up already.

In my room, where Oliver told her she was welcome to stay, Alex lay in my bed, fast asleep. The little thing had curled up in the comforter and snuggled deep into the pillows. The wolf had curled up along side but didn't lay her head down just yet. I set the tray down and oh so carefully pulled the blanket so that I got a good look at her face. Not bad, average, without any unattractive features like a huge nose or twenty face piercings. Alex's hair was black and fell about to her waist, if Matthew was remembering correctly. Black side bangs hung over her right eye and... Canada pushed a bit of the hair around her neck away to reveal a rather nasty looking scar. No doubt this one had caused some trouble, seeing as it was in a spot that could have killed her. He growled angrily, how dare some one damage his property.

The somewhat loud noise woke Alex up and she flinched away from his grimace. "Who are you?"

Canada's hands fisted up at that question and he struggled to hold back his anger. After all, she hadn't forgotten his name because no one had ever told her, so he had no right to be upset. But logic wasn't much help against his anger so he stopped grinding his teeth together to answer, "Matthew Williams."

"Well, it's nice to meet you Matthew." She replied, settling a bit. Perhaps she had realized Matthew was trying not to hurt her, and so she stayed silent.

"Here's lunch." Matthew muttered, pointing to the tray. In all of Matthews life he had never gone through a lengthy conversation with anyone of the opposite gender before now and so he had no clue how to talk to Alex. Which could turn into a big problem.

"Um, thank you." Her posture got straighter and she pushed away the blanket to sit upright. "My name is Alex." She smiled and held out a hand, but Matthew couldn't seem to make his mouth move, let alone his hand. With dejection she let the hand drop. Thankfully the wolf decided to break their awkward moment by whining, receiving Alex'a full attention. "Oh hi there!" She began petting, rubbing, scratching and cooing the beast fearlessly, as one would do a puppy.

"She's yours now." Matthew got out, but refrozen when those pretty blue eyes turned to him. Oh god, why was he stunned so badly? It's not like he was in love with this girl or anything. So why? Without another word he dashed away, down the stairs and pass his family into the basement. With a huff the Canadian threw himself down on the couch, covering his eyes with an arm. His mind warily tried to decrypt his feelings and thoughts so he would never go through a situation like that again, but he couldn't understand why! Finally the poor blonde's brain passed out from all the confusion and the utter exhaustion from this girl.

**So, I'd like to thank everyone who read my story, but could some one please give me some feedback? I love seeing that people have read, but I really want to hear from you!**

-**Jacky**


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning was, simply put, dreadful for Matthew. Of course anyone who woke up to a smug looking America would agree, so he did his best to roll over and go back to sleep, but Al wasn't having it. "Oh no you don't! I've been waiting forever to hear how things went between you and your lady friend yesterday."

Canada raised one eyebrow and taunted, "You sounded so gay right then."

"What?" Al growled unexpectedly. "Would there be a problem with that!?"

"Nah man I don't give two shits who the hell you're fucking." Sighing I defeat, the pancake lover sat up, rubbing his eyes and yawning loudly. Al swung himself over the back of the couch in the now free spot, waiting for an answer. "It went...not well."

"Seriously?" Matthew almost growled at his naive brother. "How?"

"I don't know, I just couldn't talk to her." He paused and ran a hand through his wavy hair. "I completely froze up."

"Woah Mattie, that's something I'd never expect from you." He admitted. With a shit eating grin he wrapped an arm around his brother, ignoring the pointed glare he received. "Then let big bubby give ya some advice. Just relax. Her opinion doesn't matter, just yours, so don't be nervous."

"That's all you've got for me?" Matt snarled, ripping Al's arm away. "I'd be better off with France or England if you can't do better than that."

"Fine." He snorted and got up, leaving Matthew. "Why don't you go talk to them?"

* * *

Oliver grinned happily as he knocked on Matthew's door. Of course he knew Alex was in there and like any gentlemen would he knocked politely. "Come in!" Alex yelled back and Oliver chuckled at how sleepy she had sounded.

When he came in he spotted her sitting in the corner, going through a duffel at of her clothes Al and Matt had kindly thought to bring along. Oliver quickly decided that her clothes were unfit for a sweet young woman such as herself. They were all old hand me downs with stains, rips, and discolored spots, making The Englishman suspect that they had either been purchased at second hand stores or fished out of a dumpster. "Oh my deary you can't go around wearing those dreadful things!"

He tsked and threw open the Canadian's closet door. He pulled out a grey black and white plaid shirt that couldn't possibly still fit and tossed it to Alex. He of course turned around while she changed, since he was a gentleman. It was pretty close, but still a bit too big for the petite thing. "We're going to have to get you a new wardrobe, aren't we?"

"Oh no, I couldn't possibly ask you to do something like that." A scarlet red blush formed on her cheeks and Ollie momentarily marveled at how foreign kindness truly was to this girl.

"You don't seem to understand poppet." Grinning he sat down beside her, overlooking her minor discomfort. "I'm not making you an offer, I'm telling you, so let's go."

"Now?" She asked in disbelief even as Ollie pulled her along behind me and down the stairs. "Of course." Who was she to argue with the insane man? Well, considering she wished to live, no one. Plus, if she did something bad he might beat her.

She was pulled into an older looking car, but she'd never been good enough to tell with cars, so she didn't bother trying to figure out. Instead Alex gripped the seat's edge as Oliver drove to the nearest town a bit too quickly. She screamed when he cut off a semi truck, which almost crashed into them but somehow no one got hurt. "Um, Oliver? Could you please slow down a bit?" She bit her lip and scrunched her eyes shut as he ran through a red light without even looking for other cars. Man, where were the cops in this town and why weren't they chasing them down yet?

"No can do poppet." Alex whimpered in fear, holding on tighter. "We need to hurry because it's my turn to cook dinner tonight." He happily flew into some store's parking lot and slammed the brakes. Immediately Alex was out, panting heavily and trying to calm her beating heart before she had a heart attack. Oliver didn't seem to notice as he recaptured her hand and led her inside to the woman's department.

Admittedly, this place was a second hand store, but it seemed most items were barely, if ever worn, and had probably once been rather expensive. She went through them, occasionally having something handed to her by Oliver, who she was pleased to find was considering her own tastes instead of his own. Finally a good sized stack had been piled up in the cart, mostly consisting of plaid, button up shirts and jeans. What can she say? She's a country girl at heart.

"Let's get you a dress too." Alex cringed at the British man, not bothering to hide her displeasure. "I'm just saying that a formal dress for special occasions isn't a bad idea."

"Alright, you win." And so they ventured to two racks full on both sides with dresses. A shelf ran over the top of the rack which contained many boxes of shoes, most of which were heels. After looking, studying, and rethinking every dress it was down to just two. One was a nearly floor length blue dress with a v-neck and a slit on the right side up to the thigh and the other a shorter, strapless black dress. "Alright, which one?"

"Um." Both were very pretty to him and he thought Alex would look spectacular in either. With a big grin plastered on his face he grabbed them both and put them in the cart. "Both! You'd be beautiful in them both, and they're not really that expensive."

"Olly, are you sure it's okay to get all of this for me?" She tried backing out once they reached the check out lanes and the blond only confirmed that it was before taking the stuff to check out himself. He chose not to comment when she flinched away as he reached toward her. Alex refused to look at the amount he paid, certain the numbers would horrify her. On the way home they stopped at a small mall and Oliver brought them right in front of a Victoria's Secret shop.

A bright red blush covered every inch of Oliver's face as he handed Alex a wad of cash. "Um, go buy yourself...things. I'll be in the book store down there when you finish." Blushing herself, Alex took it with a thanks and walked I to the most terrifyingly embarrassing places she'd been her entire life.

* * *

America had yet to quit his teasing of Canada. He followed his brother as he searched for France in the hope of getting some actually helpful advice. They found him out on the terrace, sipping a glass of wine and smoking a cigarette as always. "Hello idiots." He hissed in irritation, taking a draw and blowing the smoke at the two. With England gone his attitude had turned especially sour, since the threat of punishment was gone.

"I need help." Canada admitted with hesitation. His former caretaker's eyebrows lifted in surprise.

"Mattie doesn't know how to talk to girls." Al snickered, covering his mouth with his hand as Mattie turned around to take a swing at him. "He froze up trying to talk to Alex last night."

"What?" France slammed down his wine glass and stood, glaring hard at the boys. "Impossible! No child raised by me could have trouble speaking to women."

"But you arent a womanizer like the other France." Canada pointed out, a scowl firmly on his face. "What do you know about talking to them?"

"Ah, but I have Oliver, no?" He smirked and sat back down.

"That doesn't count, he's a dude!" America screamed in protest, and Canada detested that he agreed with his brother.

"Eh, he's British. Close enough." Al laughed some more while Canada had a seat next to France.

"Are you going to help me or not?"

"But of course." France leaned forward and pulled the small table closer and pulled a pack of cards out of his pocket. Alfred pulled up a chair to join as France dealt. "Now then, here are a few basic rules to follow when speaking with a woman."


	5. Chapter 5

Part 5

Alex was still blushing as she entered the book store where she immediately spotted her British escort sitting in a plush looking chair, contently enraptured in a copy of Wuthering Heights. She took the seat next to him, plopping down. The blonde was roused from his reading at the sound of the two bags she had been carrying hitting the floor. "Have fun deary?"

"Absolutely not!" Groaning, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes, resting. "The woman there was quite rude."

"Really." He closed the book and set it atop a small stack of five or so others. "How so?"

"Well, she was rather...blessed in her bosom and felt it necessary to point out how small I am in comparison." Unable to look at Oliver she stared at the floor, clearly embarrassed.

Although he would normally have been scarlet as well, Olive seemed more angry than embarrassed. "How very un-lady like. I have half a mind to go back there and teach her some manners myself." Snorting in distaste, the gentleman gathered his books and Alex's stuff.

"I can carry those myself." She tried to steal them back, but Oliver wasn't having it.

"No deary, I could never ask a lady to carry her bags when I'm capable of doing it." He gave a big smile, the first ever that eased Alex instead of frightening her. "Would you care for a book while we're already here?"

"Well, I'm actually not so great a reader." Alex admitted ashamed. "I didn't get a lot of practice."

"That's fine, why not get some and get better? We'll help you, I promise." With a small nod she went through the shelves, picking out a few that caught her attention. Oliver added them to his stack and took them to the register to pay. Unfortunately, while he was occupied Alex stole a couple bags away to carry, which displeased him, but there wasn't enough time for him to argue about it. They'd been shopping all day and now he only had two hours before supper time.

"Thank you Oliver." Alex smiled as they loaded everything into the back seat of the car. She grabbed him once his arms were free and hugged him.

"Quite alright." He wrapped one arm around her to hug back and pat her head with his other hand. "Now then, let's get home poppet."

At the house the three countries had just finished their sixth hand when the two returned from town. Mattie and Alfred went to help carry things, knowing that since it was England's turn to cook he might not feed them if they didn't. Alex's still unnamed wolf beat them to the duo and promptly jumped on Alex, knocking her down as the wolf licked her face furiously. "Ah, ok, ok!"

Mattie offered a hand up, seeing as Oliver had his hands full and Alfred was a douche. She accepted his hand and thanked him with a bright smile before retrieving the things she'd dropped. "Hey old man, what's for dinner?" Alex and Matthew watched as Oliver's grip on the bags tightened in his anger, but he didn't make a move to harm Alfred. Yet. "Is your hearing that bad already? What's for dinner?"

Oliver tried leaving so he wouldn't hurt his beloved America, bit Al just followed him, continuing to tease Oliver about being old. The Brit suddenly turned around, dropping Alex's bags on the living room carpet in the process and attacked Alfred. He punched and clawed at the other man, clearly furious. Alfred retaliated, returning every blow given to him. France and Canada jumped in and ripped the two apart, but ended up getting drawn into the fight as well.

A deep fear set into Alex's mind as she watched the extreme violence from these men. Thanks to Oliver's light and carefree attitude she'd mostly forgotten that she'd been kidnapped. But now it was crystal clear in her mind that she was with very dangerous men who killed people for fun. She remembered every detail of how Matthew and Alfred broke into her house to murder her parents and Oliver's temporary lose of sanity. Assuming he had any to start with, that is. 'What if this has all been a trap?' She worried. 'Maybe they've only been acting nice so I would trust them, because it would be entertaining to make me feel hopeful, only to crush it.'

Slowly she backed to the still open front door, trying not to make any noise. Once she shuffled past the door frame she turned and broke into a run through the thick forest that surrounded this house. The chilly autumn air seemed to bite at her exposed skin and whipped her hair into her face. Not far behind the wolf let out a long, loud cry to alert the boys that she had run.

"Alex!" Oliver called for her and she whimpered in fear, running harder. Behind her she heard their heavier footfalls and with dismay realized they were catching up to her and she didn't have a prayer of out running them. She turned sharp behind a large boulder to hide, but an above ground root caught her foot. A cry ripped out of her throat as she tripped and landed face first in the dirt. Struggling to get up, she cried as a sharp pain came from her ankle and she fell back down.

"Alex!" They'd caught her, and now she would be killed for sure! "Are you okay?" Oliver's blue eyes scanned her, narrowing in on her ankle, which she had her hand on.

Matthew wordlessly crouched beside her, a scary expression on his face. Alex closed her eyes, expecting to be hit or worse. However the Canadian only lifted her gently and they began the trip back to the house.

Oliver walked closest, his face contorted into an unhappy frown. "I'm sorry about that poppet. I should have known that fighting would have scared you away, poor girl."

"What?" Alfred snorted. "Not your fault she's a total pussy." Everyone gave him a disapproving stare, and France hit the back of his head.

"Al, shut up." Mattie growled. For once the American seemed to understand that he'd said the totally wrong thing, again.

Alex remained confused and scared, along with an assortment of jumbled emotions she couldn't deal with right now. Everything was just so... aargh! These people were so strange, so different from anything she had known before. They acted violently on multiple occasions, even going so far as to kill her parents and probably several more people, but they had treated her rather well, aside from Alfred's rude comments. Oliver and Matthew especially did their best to make her feel comfortable and cared for. What kidnappers would go to such lengths just to make a captive feel welcomed? None, so it had to be something else. Perhaps because they thought she was attractive? No, she wasn't very pretty and if they only wanted her for that then they wouldn't have taken her with them or purchased clothes. Also none of them had tried anything like that, actually none of them acted remotely interested in her in such a way. Couldn't be to keep her as a hostage because if they'd done the research to see if her parents even had money they would have seen that aside from her parents there was no one, which would make killing them illogical. So there was only one conclusion left that seemed to fit, but the problem was how vague the cause really was. They needed her for something, and obviously they needed her to be willing or they would have used force by now. What could she possibly do for them that they couldn't force her to do? And while she was at it, why was she so drawn to their pet wolf, and why give her such a rare and most likely expensive pet for nothing? These guys were certainly planning something and she needed to find out what before anything bad happened to her or anybody else.

"Alex?" Matthew asked, dragging her away from her thoughts And caused her to come to a sudden realization.

"Oh." Alex exclaimed. "You're Canadian, aren't you?"

"Yes." He chuckled along with Olive and Alfred. She just looked away with a heavy blush, feeling stupid like mother always said she was.

Apparently Alfred wasn't quite as dense as he appeared because he ended their laughing moment for the poor girl's sake. "Keep your head up brat or people will think you're nothing but a wimp." He snorted and went ahead into the house while Matthew gently set Alex on the porch swing. Oliver left after him to retrieve a first aid kit to fix her ankle if need be and the scrapes on her hands.

"Does he not like me or something?" She mumbled shyly. Matthew glanced up from where he sat observing Alex's ankle carefully. The shy girl mustered up the courage to face him directly, which was slightly easier than she expected.

"Of course he does." Mattie snorted, looking a bit appalled. "That's just how Al shows it idiot." Alex was taken aback by the insult and rough voice. What had happened? Earlier he treated her so kindly, but that had sounded so mean. She didn't get much time to consider why before Oliver returned bearing the first aid kit.

"Alright my dear, let's have a look shall we?" He pulled her pant leg up to examine the injury.

"I think it's just a sprain." The Canadian comments, opening the kit and going to work on the rest of her. He took the left hand, which was worse than the right. He carefully wiped the blood off and then sprayed anti-bacterial on the area. Alex flinched a bit when he reached over her to grab a bandage, then again at his disapproving frown, even though it hadn't been directed at her.

"Mattie's right my dear, just a sprain, but it would be best for you if I wrap it." The Brit took some gauze and wrapped the wound with great care and Alex watched how well he performed his task. "Now then, if you two will excuse me I must go prepare our meal." With that, the person Alex felt least anxious around disappeared into the house, leaving her alone with Matthew.

The swing rocked as he sat next to her and they both looked out at the front yard without speaking to each other. A large oak tree was planted in the front yard to provide adequate shade on hot sunny days and a small swing hung from one of the low branches. 'Why do they have a swing when there aren't any children?' I wondered. 'Plus none of them would enjoy something like that.'

A snort came from him. "It's from when me and Al were little you retard." Again his cruelty to me took me off guard. When I first came he'd been sweet, but now he was acting like an ass. Well, when he talked at least, although ever move he made was gentle. The confusion threatened to overwhelm her along with an unexpected sense of betrayal. Much as she hated to admit to it, Alex had deposited a small, very small amount of trust in him. But maybe she should seriously consider retracting this minuscule amount, seeing as Matt's behavior sent a strong message that he didn't give a damn for her so she shouldn't even bother with him.

"Whatever." She mumbled back, leaving him alone. Who cares? She certainly did not. Through her mumblings and preoccupied thoughts Alex tripped over something that lay in front of the fireplace. She rolled unto her back and sat up, coming nose to nose with Canada's polar bear. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to trip over you." She slowly brought a hand up and remained completely calm, even though the bear was perfectly capable of snapping her hand off in one chomp.

The bear did nothing but snort and flicked one of it's adorable ears. Alex giggled and gently scratched behind his ears. The bear mad a noise that sounded like a mix between a growl and a sort of yawn before it waddled into her lap. Her unnamed wolf curled up beside her and she smiled happily, though tired. 'Eh, a quick nap wouldn't hurt.' She thought, leaning back against the couch and yawning before shutting her eyes.

**Hey guys, how about a review, eh? Even if it's criticism, I don't mind. Well, constructive criticism at least. But even if you don't, thanks for at least reading this far. :)**

** -Jacky**


	6. Chapter 6

Canada just didn't get it. He'd followed France's advice, but it didn't seem to be working at all. He thought back to what Francis had said to make sure he didn't miss anything.

_"Women don't like predictable men." The blonde paused to take a chug of wine, "so what you need to do is be unpredictable. As soon as she honks she understands you, do something totally opposite."_

_"Uh, that doesn't sound right." Alfred interrupted, though he was mostly ignored. After all, how often could it be said that he was correct? Not that his skills in manipulation and scheming should ever be underestimated, but in relationship advice?_

_"Now, the best way to do this is to be very nice and polite to her but then treat her like crap. This way she wants to stay with you, but you're too unpredictable for her to get bored." France explained and put out his cigarette in the ash tray and lighting another._

_"Right, but how mean?" Canada stared intently at his former guardian as the man closed in their game._

_"Not too bad, or she won't want you. Stick to insults and demeaning comments, but no physically violence." Alfred and Canada showed their card, and Matthew smirked at his victory, enjoying Alfred cursing in anger._

_"Whatever man!" Al yelled. They heard England's car park out front and he took off while France put the cards away. "I'll just go annoy Arthur."_

No, he'd done what Francis told him, but it seemed more repellent than endearing. Maybe he should re-evaluate his method, even ask Arthur for advice. Lots of women adored British men, right? Besides, he had spent the entire day with her so he must have picked up on something. Matt sighed and walked into the house, intent on inquiring his 'mother' figure, when his interest caught of the very girl causing such issues. Alex lay leaned against the couch in the floor, curled up with her wolf snuggled beside her. The surprising fact was that Kumajirou had allowed her to lean against him on her right side to keep herself from falling sideways. The bear had developed tempermental tendencies, which including a severe aversion to physical contact with everyone, aside from himself, yet here he was, pressed against this girl and reluctantly he admitted to himself that the sight appealed to him.

A whimper interrupted Matthew's thoughts, and with displeasure noted a discontented expression marring her face, which shouldn't have been there. To his dismay her face darkened more, transforming into a look he knew too well from his plethora of victims, and he decided that he did not like it. With a quick stroll he towered over her, momentarily considering what could occur should she awaken, but decided that he was not standing her doing nothing while she seemed so fearful from a nightmare. So he crouched down and lifted Alex off the ground, causing her animal pillows to stir, lifting their heads to find the missing part of their trio. Canada carried the light weight brunette upstairs and settled her into his own bed, then slipped in next to her. After pulling her to him he softly stroked her head, cooing to her gently and doing anything he thought to soothe her fragile nerves. For the first time he realized how uncomfortable she probably was in the whole ordeal of uprooting her of all she'd know her entire life, and putting her in a strange house, in a strange room, in a strange bed, with a handful of strange people who she did not know, and most certainly did not trust. She'd taken all this stress without a single complaint, request, or demand. Although her home hadn't been perfect, far from it actually, with her parents out of the way there was a strong posibility she would have stayed there.

"Matty?" Oliver whispered from the doorway. He stood there with a tray of warm food and s smile that appeared a bit too smug for Matt to really be comfortable. "You should wake her up for some food. Those horrible mosters didn't feed her enough, so we need to get her plumped up a bit." After placing a tray on the side table he left the two in private, secretly giggling to himself at how cute those two were being!

"Hey." He gently shook her, and paused to make sure she was fully awake before continuing, "Oliver brought you some food." She nodded and sat up, rubbing one eye then stretching her hands above her head. On the tray was a steamy bowl of fresh vegtable soup with a couple rolls and a glass of water. Alex didn't say anyhting as she slowly ate, savoring every bite of Oliver's amazing cooking. Or maybe she only thought so because of how terrible the food she'd eaten her entire life had been. In the end she could only get half the soup and one roll down before feeling bloated enough to throw up. Not one to waste, Oliver finished off the meal. Besides, why be scared of her germs when he'd be with her the rest of his existance?

"Hey Matt?" She whispered, obviously still tired.

"Yeah?"

"Um, I..." Alex trailed off, refusing to make eye contant. She acted afraid to ask, almost as if he'd hit her just for speaking, but in her past being slapped for talking wasn't unlikely.

"It's fine, what do you need?" He took in her wide eyes and slightly ajar mouth as a sign that no one had cared for her to ask that question ever before.

"I...I'm cold." She shuttered from a cold chill and Matthew smiled as he got out of the bed and went to the hall closet for another blanket. After he wrapped it tightly around her small body he snuggled close.

"Better?" She blushed and nodded, then buried her face in his chest to hide. His actions confused her greatly and she did not like or appriciate his constantly changing disposition. He jumped from mockery to sweetness within a half hour and the constant change left her feeling unsettled.

"Why are you doing this to me?" She hissed, gripping the front of his red plaid shirt and frowned. Her blue eyes burned a whole through Matt, causing him to flinch, something he rarely did. Huh, maybe he was whipped already. "You go from being a jerk to being so sweet. Stop it okay? I can't deal with you constantly doing that!"

Matthew was taken aback. So Alfred was actually right and France was wrong? But that didn't matter right now, pacifying Alex did. "I'm sorry. It's just...I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

"I hope not." She grumbled before turning away from him and wiggling as far as the bed allowed. He didn't let her be long when his hand brushed her side, but she jumped away, consequently falling to the floor. Matthew dove for her side and leaned over, looking down at the small girl, who rubbed her now sore head.

"Why'd you move away from me?" Mattie asked with a frown firmly set.

"I don't know..." Alex trailed off in her speech, a great emotional weight settling on her as she thought of how Canada had probably taken her rejection for what it was to these people; a weakness. They were strong, amazingly tough beings who took so much without so much as a word, and here she couldn't take the lightest of caresses. The ordeal served only as a reminder as to how weak she truly was, and the danger that lay here. Her first escape attempt failed epicly, but the next would not, for it would be far more cunning than a dash away in plain day. All she had to hold her back now was the busted ankle, which, according to Oliver, only took a month or so to heal up.

"Silly girl." He lightly teased, remebering not to offend her or startle her as he lifted her back onto the bed, a simple task for something so small. He'd do his best to see to it that she healed up completely, and not just her ankle. Each turned their back to the other, planning, calculating, and re-planning silently.

***Sigh* Another short chapter, but I found this point good enough to stop at, so no more for now. Still wanting, or rather craving a review my readers. If you have any suggestions or complaints I can't help you unless you post a review. **

**-Jacky ;)**


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